


i'll be perfect, i promise

by SpiderShell



Series: Penny & Peter [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Gen, Late at Night, Misunderstandings, New York City, Penny Parker - Freeform, Peter Parker Has a Twin, Running Away, Secrets, Spider-Girl - Freeform, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Adopts the Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:55:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29907654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderShell/pseuds/SpiderShell
Summary: “Don’t give me that bull!” Tony yelled, turning towards her harshly and causing Penny to jerk in surprise and back up a step. “Is it drugs, or boys, or what?”Penny’s eyes widened. “No, no, no, no,” she said, voice starting to waver in her panic. “It’s nothing like that, I promise.”“Thenwhat is it?”Looking at the floor, Penny considered her options, and with a sinking heart, decided to tell the truth. “I was with Nat.”Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Nat?” he asked, his voice lowering dangerously. “Are you referring toNatasha Romanoff?”
Relationships: Penny Parker and Tony Stark, Penny and Peter Parker - Relationship
Series: Penny & Peter [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199171
Comments: 1
Kudos: 78





	i'll be perfect, i promise

**Author's Note:**

> This is another story in the universe in which my OC, Penelope Parker, exists. I would suggest reading Day 25 of My Febuwhump series , but all you need to know is that May died in a car accident, and Tony is raising Peter and his twin sister, Penny. 
> 
> I sincerely apologise for the way the Rogue Avengers (Steve and Nat, in particular) are painted in this story. The way I describe them is most definitely not the way I think of them, so please don’t flame me 🤣🤣🤣

It was extremely difficult to keep secrets from Tony Stark. FRIDAY was a constant presence in almost every room of the penthouse (correction: in the entire Tower) and tattled to “Boss”, as she called Tony, about anything that Penny or Peter did that was out of the ordinary. 

At least, for Peter, everyone in the Tower already knew that he was Spider-Man, so he had nothing to hide, but Penny had to be more sneaky in her approach. She would more often patrol after school under the pretense of visiting her friends, and only go out at night with her brother when Tony and Pepper were away or too busy to be aware of where their wards were. And even then, she had to be very, very careful. Thankfully, Ned had given her a crash course in hacking last time she and Peter went to his house, so she was able to turn FRIDAY off in her room to stop the AI checking up on her or seeing her leave through her window. 

Having a short amount of time in which to patrol meant that Penny needed to stop crimes quickly and efficiently with the few hours that she had. She had found herself training with Peter more often than normal - now that she too was enhanced, she could almost match his strength - but she felt like she needed _more_. So she found herself going to Natasha Romanoff.

It had been pure accident that Penny had met Nat. A week or two after Tony had taken her and her brother in and gained guardianship of them, the girl had been looking at her phone while walking into the Tower and bumped into someone. Stuttering out an apology, she had glanced up to see Natasha Romaoff, now sporting a blonde bob, holding out a hand to help her up. “Thank you,” she had whispered, pulling the brim of her hat down and hurrying into the building. 

The next time she had seen Nat was in the middle of a crowded mall. “You’re one of Tony’s new children, aren’t you?” the woman had asked, cutting to the chase. 

Ever the spy, Nat had slowly and methodically unearthed all of Penny’s secrets, bar one (Spider-Girl). She’d gathered that Penny was enhanced - an educated guess because of the way the girl carried herself and was gentle when touching things. 

“I need help,” Penny had blurted out, to her great embarrassment. “Can you train me?”

Nat had blinked, showing a sliver of surprise before schooling her expression into a blank mask. “Alright,” she had agreed easily, “Meet me at my apartment every Thursday at 3:45 after school.”

It seemed she even knew Penny’s school and her schedule.

* * *

“Are we almost done?” Penny groaned, laying flat on her back with arms sprawled. “I’m dead.”  
Natasha nudged her arm with a boot. “You’ve got one more set of sit-ups to do, and then you can go home, I promise.” She glanced at the clock. “It’s only four thirty.”

Immediately, Penny sat bolt upright, eyes wide. “ _Only_ four thirty?” she gasped. “Tony and Pepper are going out for a date dinner at four thirty!” She grabbed her phone, and saw five missed calls and twenty texts waiting for her. “Oh, shoot. I can’t believe I forgot.” Glancing at Natasha, she tossed her backpack over her shoulder and sprinted out the call, shouting “See you next week!” behind her as she went. 

Her foot tapped anxiously on the floor of the subway as she willed it to go faster, practising her cover story in her head. Chances were, Tony would be so impatient to go out with Pepper that he wouldn’t pay much attention to what she was saying, anything. After all, she was probably an afterthought in Tony’s mind. Peter was the one he actually wanted, but unfortunately, the Parker twins came as a package deal. Actually, the Stark twins, now. 

Someone collided with her back and she stepped aside to let the man pass, keeping her head down.

When the subway finally got to her stop, Penny made her way quickly through the lobby of the Avengers Tower, ignoring the curious looks from visitors and staff alike. Once in the elevator, she slapped the button for the penthouse and leant against the wall with a sigh. “What a day,” she groaned. 

_Boss is waiting for you in your bedroom_ , FRIDAY said to her, her voice sympathetic if an AI could ever be. 

Darn. “Where’s Pepper and Peter?” she asked. 

_Miss Potts is currently cooking in the kitchen, and Master Peter is helping her_

Immediately, Penny felt bad. She should have remembered, paid more attention to the time so that wouldn’t have had to postpone their date night for her. 

The doors opened to the penthouse, and Penny tiptoed through the living area towards her bedroom. Peter, with his sensitive hearing, turned around when she entered and threw her what she interpreted to be an encouraging smile. She gave him a wide-eyed grimace in return. 

Hesitating a moment in front of her room, she finally gathered all of her courage and entered, hands clasped in front of her and eyes lowered. Tony looked up from where he was staring outside the window and turned to face her, face hard and grave. 

“Where were you?” he demanded, an angry bite to his words. 

Penny swallowed. “At MJ’s house,” she said, keeping her voice steady, “studying.”

Tony scoffed. “Really? I called MJ and she said she hadn’t seen you since school let out. Something else is going on, and you’re going to tell me _right now_.”

“Uh,” Penny said, thinking fast. “I missed my subway.”

“Don’t give me that bull!” Tony yelled, turning towards her harshly and causing Penny to jerk in surprise and back up a step. “Is it drugs, or boys, or what?”

Penny’s eyes widened. “No, no, no, no,” she said, voice starting to waver in her panic. “It’s nothing like that, I promise.”

“Then _what is it?_ ”

Looking at the floor, Penny considered her options, and with a sinking heart, decided to tell the truth. “I was with Nat.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Nat?” he asked, his voice lowering dangerously. “Are you referring to _Natasha Romanoff?_ ”

“Yes,” Penny said quietly, not daring to look up at her adoptive father. 

“Just to be clear, we are talking about the very same woman who fricking betrayed me and went with darn Captain America!?”

Penny chose to stay silent.

"What the _heck_ would give you the idea to "hang out" with _her_? She _betrayed_ this family! It's not safe to trust her. What were you thinking?” Tony stepped forward and grabbed Penny’s shoulders, gripping them hard. “How long?”

“Couple months,” Penny admitted, voice barely perceptible. 

Tony inhaled sharply and let go of her abruptly, hard eyes searching her face. He must’ve found what he wanted, because he spun on his heel and stalked out the room, heart rate elevated. With her enhanced hearing, Penny could hear Peter and Pepper calling out to him, to no avail. 

Penny threw herself onto her bed and buried her head in the pillows, tears streaming down her face. She’d royally screwed everything up, hadn’t she? She _knew_ what had happened with the Rogue Avengers, _knew_ how Captain America had almost killed him, _knew_ that Natasha Romanoff had switched sides to go with Steve. But that meant nothing in the shade of what she had done. She saw what Tony saw, almost through his eyes. To him, it was the highest betrayal of all - the betrayal of _family_. 

She sobbed, the weight crashing over her like a tidal wave. _He's going to send me away for sure_ , she thought, pushing herself up onto her elbows and staring at the open window, the lights of the skyscrapers and apartment buildings twinkling far below. Grief made her hands shake and she looked longingly at her bedroom door before standing up and opening her closet, pulling out her black backpack with the small Spider-Man key ring. 

“Why was I so _stupid_?” she cried, tears blurring her vision as she put her most precious things inside her bag - her phone, laptop, purse, her suit (carefully hidden under her bed), photos of her and Peter, some jewelry that had belonged to May, and her tattered and loved copy of _The Fellowship of the Ring_. As an afterthought, she tossed a shirt, pair of leggings, hair brush and ties, and some deodorant into the bag. 

She tiptoed through the hallway - it appeared that dinner was over and done and everyone was elsewhere in the house - and towards the elevator. As she passed outside Peter’s room, she hesitated a second, knowing that this would hurt her twin more than anything could ever hurt him, but she scrunched her eyes up and moved on. She couldn’t handle saying goodbye, not like this. 

The elevator doors closed after her.

* * *

New York was perpetually awake, lights dazzling and cars careening past, especially in the evening like this. Penny tucked her arms around herself, squinting against the light, as she walked through Manhattan, avoiding hustling pedestrians, bikes, and skateboards, and glancing fearfully into every dark alley. She hadn’t been outside, at night, alone, as Penny Parker (Stark? - not now) and it would be lying to say that she wasn’t scared. She knew that she gambling with danger to be a young girl walking about alone at night, but at this moment, she didn’t really care. 

Where would she go?

She had no family left besides Peter, but she couldn’t go back. Would Tony even let her back after what had happened with her and Natasha? 

Oh. 

Could she go to Nat?

She hauled her backpack off her shoulder and stuck her hand inside, searching for her phone. When she retrieved it, she turned it on and went to her contacts, scrolling through until she found _Natasha Romanoff_ 😮. Her finger hovered over the ‘call’ button, her mind waging war over her decisions. 

Her phone began to ring, Peter’s caller ID appearing on the screen, and she hastily turned the device off and shoved it into her pocket. Maybe she’d call Nat in the morning. 

Sighing to herself, she slunk into a dark alley, heart beating quickly, and crawled up the wall of an apartment building, careful to avoid windows and areas of light. When she got to the roof, she slumped down in a heap, back resting against an old chimney. 

It started to rain, cold drops pattering down on her head as it grew harder, and she clutched her bag in her arms, sheltering it as she tried to make herself as small as possible. She coughed and wiped at her face, the droplets catching in her eyelashes and falling into her eyes, causing the world to turn blurry for a few seconds. She started to cry again, the salty tears slipping down her cheeks mixing with the raindrops. 

There was a loud noise behind her, a roaring hum and a bang, but she didn’t move, too cold, too angry with herself, and too tired to care. And when a figure appeared in her peripheral vision, she thought it was her imagination. 

“Penny? Penny!” Someone was in front of her, touching her face, and she looked up, startled. Tony was kneeling before her, fear etched into his expression. “Penny, can you hear me?” 

“Tony?” she asked, confused. “What are you doing here?” 

“Looking for you, sweetheart,” he explained, teary-eyed. “I was so scared when FRIDAY told me you were gone.” 

Penny’s brows furrowed. “You didn’t want me to go?” 

Tony froze a moment. “Why would I want you to go?” 

“‘Cause I went to see Nat, knowing what had happened and without your permission. I made you angry.” 

“Angry!?? No, I was never angry, Pen. I was scared, scared that she would hurt you.” Tony kissed her forehead. “I can’t lose you.” 

Penny smiled softly. “I’m sorry,” she said, her face falling just a little. “I’ll be perfect, I swear. I just want to stay with you and Pepper and Peter.” 

Tony’s face turned incredulous. “Honey, I’m not going to send you away, no matter what you do. I’ve adopted you, and family is forever. I promise. I love you, Penny.” 

“I love you too,” Penny sobbed, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. “Dad.”

As that one small word exited her lips, Tony’s arms tightened around his daughter. “Family is forever,” he repeated. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!


End file.
